Highlights

A council leader’s pre-Christmas joke about finding the money to send his opposite number permanently to Llandudno brought the house down at a meeting this week.

Councillors were discussing making a commitment to their £5,000-each Pride Fund which has been used to support community projects when Telford & Wrekin Council’s leader and opposition chief entered a light-hearted tangle.

New data has highlighted regional road safety, revealing that more than 150 cyclists were injured in traffic collisions across the West Mercia Police area over the last year. While Shropshire tops the list with 45 injuries, Telford & Wrekin is in third place, recording 22.

Of the 168 recorded incidents, the outcomes for riders were often severe. The police data logged two fatalities, 51 serious injuries and 115 slight injuries.

Telford homeowners are asking for immunity from council enforcement action over the continued use of a chalet on their land as a home.

The chalet at Lincoln Hill, Ironbridge, was allowed to be used as a living space only for the previous occupiers who used it as a granny annexe until she died.

The former Church of England School on St Luke’s Road in Ironbridge, known locally as the ‘Blue School’, proved to be a popular lot at Halls’ final property and land auction of the year, selling above its guide price for £125,000. The Grade II listed building was part of a successful collective property and land auction on Friday that saw 17 lots sell for a combined total of £2.2 million across Shropshire and Cheshire.

Health officials are ‘hopeful’ that they will find dentists to fill a longstanding gap in NHS provision in southeast Telford.

A meeting was told that ‘golden hello’ payments are being offered to dentists and support staff as well as an increase in the amount that they can get paid for carrying out work for the NHS.

Shropshire NHS chiefs were told that there has been a “slightly bumpy” handover from long term provider Shropdoc but a hospital chief praised HealthHero for being “incredible” and a meeting was told there have been no patient incidents.

The fashion retailer has re-entered the Telford Centre, the main shopping destination in the town with more than 160 shops. The new store features around 2,000 square feet of trading space and is in a prime position within the centre.

Architects have told Telford & Wrekin Council that the ground floor of the Long Warehouse at Coalport China Museum has been subjected to regular flooding.

This, says Stephen Oliver of Oliver Architecture in Birmingham, means “the high humidity left within the building contributes to the failing of internal decorations”.

Children from six Borough primary schools took to the hot seats recently to debate the topics of the day in the Council Chamber.

The programme is fully accredited by the Vocational Training Charitable Trust, a specialist organisation that designs and certifies qualifications across the hairdressing and beauty therapy sectors.

It will offer hands-on training in liquid and acrylic nail systems, using leading industry brand NSI.

Last year the Shropshire and Wrekin Fire and Rescue Authority estimated that a national agreement would lead to a pay award of two per cent – but staff were given a 3.2 per cent increase instead.

A meeting was told this week that the authority dug into ‘contingencies’ to be able to find the extra £150,000 for this year.

Complaints – and compliments – directed to Telford & Wrekin Council have been rising as it continues to see “significant demand, rising expectations and increased pressure on all its services”, councillors were told.

The MyTelford app saw 86,749 jobs logged on it during 2024/25.

Telford & Wrekin Council has reaffirmed its commitment to tackling domestic abuse and violence against women and girls (VAWG) through its support of White Ribbon Day and the international 16 Days of Action campaign, running from 25 November to 10 December 2025.

A care company has withdrawn an application to use a terraced house in Telford as a children’s home after council planners raised concerns, the council has confirmed

Agents for Lovemark Care Ltd have responded after Telford & Wrekin Council officials raised issues of parking arrangements at the property in Hadley and over engagement with its care commissioning team.

The seizure of Selective Androgen Receptor Modulators (SARMs) from OB Health & Fitness Ltd based in Ellerdine was part of a wider international enforcement operation targeting unregulated and dangerous goods being sold to the public online, in partnership with West Mercia Police and coordinated by UK Anti-Doping (UKAD).

Whilst carrying out the latest urgent repair work after the owners failed to do so, Telford & Wrekin Council’s contractors have identified further issues which have necessitated the issuing of another Urgent Works Notice, which was served on 12 November 2025.

This latest enforcement action will be completed by the Council’s contractors, who are already on site carrying out the previous urgent work. Telford & Wrekin Council will be seeking to recover the cost for this extra work, along with the ongoing and previous work, from the owners.

Opponents of plans to build 166 homes south of Newport are set to marshal their forces for a big push in advance of a looming public consultation deadline.

Church Aston Parish Council and Telford & Wrekin Councillor Andrew Eade will be hosting a ‘drop-in session’ at the village hall on Thursday evening (November 20) for objectors to the Bellway Homes plan at Church Aston.

Now the council has set a date of December 4 this year, when its ruling Labour cabinet is set to make what it calls key decisions on both the housing strategy and on new moves in the market for HMOs.

In other council areas, such as Walsall and Birmingham, Article 4 directions (A4D) mean that homeowners who want to convert houses into HMOs for up to six tenants lose permitted development rights and have to apply for planning permission.

Previous plans to convert The Poplars at Wellington Road, Donnington, into a 10-bed HMO were withdrawn to be replaced by a new proposal with two fewer beds.

Two residents in Wellington Road have already objected to the new plan which is out for a period of public consultation by Telford & Wrekin Council.

The maintenance of a community orchard at the top of Ringers Lane in Admaston, Telford is uncertain following a meeting of Wrockwardine Parish Council last week.

The uncertainty stems from the recently announced boundary review, which will see the site fall under the control of Wellington Town Council in 2027.

Great British Energy this week announced that Wylfa on Anglesey has been selected as the site for the UK’s first Small Modular Reactor.

Councillor Bentley told the full council on Thursday that SMR’s take up 18 times less space than solar panels.

Veolia proposes the development of four affordable self-build bungalows which would ‘benefit both the company and the local community’.

The site is recorded as a former open cast coal and clay site which was given permission to be used as a tip for waste materials in 1979.

Traffic plan submitted with proposal for children’s home in ‘congested’ part of Telford.

The single-family home at The Nettlefolds, in Hadley, would provide a “nurturing environment” for children aged eight to 17 with emotional and behavioural difficulties and social, emotional, and mental health needs.

A property owner wants to turn a two-storey residential property in suburban Telford into a House in Multiple Occupation (HM0) for six people.

Planners at Telford & Wrekin Council have been told that owner and developer of the house in Churncote, Stirchley, has permitted development rights to make the change.

Pedestrian knocked over in Shifnal last night.

The new building in Duke/Crown Street is scheduled to be completed by Autumn 2026 and is part of the wider redevelopment of Wellington which is expected to create up to 10 new jobs, 13 new residential homes and 2 new commercial/retail units.

Councillors found one thing they can agree on when debating the latest dramatic increase in adult social care costs at Telford & Wrekin Council – the need for government action to sort out the issue.

A meeting this week heard how there has been a “significant increase in the number of new people who need long-term residential care” in the just the last three months.

A report delivered to the Police and Crime Panel said that PCC John Campion “has expressed frustration” over the lack of progress over delivering the scheme on the 26.7 mile route of the A41 between the M54 at Tong and the Prees roundabout near Whitchurch.

It comes after a report jointly commissioned by Telford & Wrekin Council and Shropshire Council concluded that an an average speed camera scheme for the road is not recommended.

An upcoming event in Wellington will give local people the chance to explore brand-new retirement living apartments and bungalows soon to open at the former New College site on King Street.

Housing Plus Group is inviting anyone interested in affordable rental homes to drop in on Thursday 13 November, between 10am and 3pm, at The Wrekin Housing Group Wellington Hub, Tan Bank, TF1 1HE.

A West Midlands businessman who says the opportunity to retrain as an HGV driver has transformed his life has received a national award.

It helped 55-year-old Mark to gain the qualifications he needed to become an HGV driver, bringing him the sort of job satisfaction and financial security he had not enjoyed for several years.

A popular Telford car park’s automatic number plate cameras and warning signs have been in position for six years without planning permission, it has emerged.

Solicitor Nick Freeman, dubbed “Mr Loophole” for his successes at challenging prosecutions did not mean it is necessarily good news for drivers who want to challenge their parking charges.

A leading councillor is vowing to “fight tooth and nail” as a developer lodges plans for 166 homes to the south of Newport.

The 8.5 hectare site south of The Dale/The Crescent in Church Aston, is one of the development sites identified in the Telford & Wrekin Council local plan which is currently in its review stage.

Emergency crews were called to a head-on collision on the A442 at the Brockton Roundabout in Telford on Tuesday afternoon.